Category Archives: neuroscience

How Trauma Affects the Brain and Healing Through Neuroplasticity

My guest on Parkinsons Recovery Radio tomorrow is Annie Hopper who developed The Dynamic Neural Retraining System as a therapeutic approach to improving brain function. Thousands of people have applied her novel program for varying chronic illnesses with great success. Focus of the program is to teach participants how to
self-direct neuroplastic changes in the limbic system that normalize threat mechanisms in the brain. This allows the brain and body to move out of a state of survival and
into a state of growth and repair, where healing can take place.

What is the Limbic System?

The following is an eloquent explanation Annie emailed to me in preparation for the radio show interview tomorrow.

“The limbic system is a complex set of structures in the mid brain that includes the hypothalamus, hippocampus, amygdala and cingulate cortex. It has been described as the feeling and reacting brain. It is responsible for the formation of memories and is constantly determining our level of safety. The Limbic System assigns emotional
significance to everything we smell, see, hear, feel, and taste. It is known as the seat of social and emotional intelligence and is the brains anxiety switch. It is closely integrated with the immune system, the endocrine system and the autonomic nervous system.

When not functioning properly due to injury or impairment, the limbic system becomes hypersensitive and begins to react to stimuli that it would usually disregard as not representing a danger to the body. This results in inappropriate activation of the immune, endocrine and autonomic nervous systems that can lead to varied and seemingly unconnected symptoms.

This hypersensitivity of the limbic system causes over-firing of protective and threat mechanisms in the midbrain. This can result in distorted unconscious reactions, sensory perceptions and protective responses.

Similar to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), it seems that limbic system hypersensitivity, or dysfunction, involves impairment to structures within the limbic system of the brain that alter connectivity to the pre-frontal cortex. We hypothesize that the hyperactivity in the limbic system fosters inhibition of the inhibitory networks, which allows the over-stimulation of survival mechanisms. This gives rise to an unconscious and persistent fight or flight response associated with limbic system impairment. Over time,
it is possible this state of hyper arousal can weaken the immune system, and affect systems associated with rest, digestion, detoxification, mood stability as well as motor and cognitive function.

The Dynamic Neural Retraining System was developed in 2008 by Annie Hopper as a therapeutic approach to improving these conditions using neuroplasticity principles. Thousands of people have applied the program for varying chronic illnesses and have had great success. The focus of the program is to effectively teach participants how to
self-direct neuroplastic changes in the limbic system that normalize threat mechanisms in the brain. This allows the brain and body to move out of a state of survival and
into a state of growth and repair, where healing can take place.”

Are you wondering what recent neuroscience findings on the brain have to say about reversing the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease? Master Gu offers the details on one approach that has shown promising results. To learn more about Qigong, listen to the Parkinsons Recovery Radio Show this week. Master Gu is my special guest.

Master Gu is also offering a $10 discount off his course Awaken Your Mind and Brain Online Course. This online course features Master Mingtong Gu teaching the steps to awaken “The Qigong Mind” and neuropsychologist Dr. Rick Hanson, presenting the neuroscience findings on the brain and the steps “To Build a Benevolent Brain”. This Offer will expire June 13: To Save $10 click here and Enter coupon code “MindBrain12”.